Two awards for quiet peacebuilding…

I bumped into Trevor Ringland on Saturday morning, on his way to Hollywood. He didn’t have time to explain why he was going other than he was going to accept part of Arthur Ashe Award for Courage between himself and basketball coach Dave Cullen. ESPN has a detailed article on it here. It contains an under reported coda to the traumatic events surrounding Holy Cross Primary School nearly six years ago. H/T Fews Orange.

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Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Ok, so the ESPN article is a bit hyberbolic, but the crux of it is true and both men deserve recognition.
[cue multiple posts filled with the usual ‘your lots worse than our lot’ whataboutery. I put the spread on this one at 54]

Sean

I am not much for the schmaltz but this story got to me, amazing how two peoplewho dont take no for an answer can do more for community relations then all the screaming and ranting in the world

susan

You’ve said it, Sean.

DK

Fantastic story. Reminds me of a TV programme where some woman was saying that people never walk across the ardoyne peace line. Behind her some people were doing just that and the interviewer said “what about them?” and she was flummoxed – had to reassess her opinions of the area and its people where she lived.

PÃ³l

I will stick to the sport instead of whataboutery

(i) Trevor Ringland is hardly the rugby Michael Jordan

(ii) His try against Scotland was hardly top 5

(iii) How could they say his style was similar to Brian Urlacher – a Middle Linebacker. Surely he was more like a Wide Receiver.

PS anyone know if this is the same Sean Touhy made famous by his adopting of future American Football star Michael Oher so he could play for his Alma Mater Ole Miss. Story was made into a book called “The Blind Side”

Porlock

So, let’s see; if all the Prods would read the Irish News and all the Taigs read the News Letter, while all their kids played sports together, all would be fine and dandy in our fair land!!

And let’s not forget Ringland’s other group (how many does he have?), the Union Group, which wants unionists and republicans to have a level playing field.

Don’t forget, either, his sterling efforts to turn the UUP into something soppier than the Alliance Party.

All of this will make him king of quango land and allow him to pick up all sorts of brownie points, but it doesn’t mean that he represents mainstream unionist opinion. He doesn’t.